Now the Climate Autocrats Want to Control Our Toilet Habits! By Richard Miller (London)
A water shortage here in green old Britain? The water authorities think so, and believe that Britain will run out of water in 20 years. Well, as I write, it is like a Nonchain deluge, so why isn’t that water saved? And to top it off, we have been told not to flush the toilets after a pee. I don’t want to go into details, but that is not hygienic at all, certainly not for ladies. This is something that should not even be discussed, but as detailed below it is now a public policy issue, showing how absurd our times are. Really, though, a fifth of our water supply, over three billion litres, is lost to leakage every day. The water companies are terrible at detecting and fixing leaks. You see water leaks everywhere here in London. So, when they fix the leaks, I will fix mine, so to speak!
“People should avoid flushing the lavatory if they go for a pee in order to help save water, a senior water executive has said.
Cathryn Ross, the strategy and regulatory affairs director at Thames Water, also called for people to take shorter showers to cut down on their water use.
Water companies have targets to cut per capita consumption set by Ofwat, the regulator. Most, including Thames, failed to meet those targets in 2021-22.
Ms Ross, a former chief executive of Ofwat, told The Times that water consumption levels in the UK were “unsustainable”.
“The biggest thing that everybody can do to reduce their water consumption day to day is shorter showers and not flushing the loo every time,” she said.
Around 30 per cent of home water use goes down the toilet, according to Water Wise. A regular flushing loo uses 13 litres per flush while a dual flush can use four to six litres of water.
Ms Ross also called for people to stop using hosepipes to water their gardens, saying: “If we can explain to everybody why not doing that makes a really important contribution to everybody having enough water and protecting the environment, that’s a really important message.”
Parts of England could run out of water within 20 years, according to a 2020 report by MPs on the public accounts committee, which said “ponderous” water companies had made “no progress” in reducing leakage over the last two decades.
A fifth of the UK’s water supplies – more than three billion litres – is lost to leakage every day, with Thames Water among the worst performers on fixing leaks.
Ms Ross told The Times the company would do more to tackle leaks, including the use of smart meters to help households be aware when they are losing water.
The company covers an officially “water-stressed” area across the south-east of England, and has rolled out mandatory metering for its 15 million customers.
The Government has called for more action from water companies, including pushing smart meters, to help reach its goal of cutting individual water use from 144 litres a day to 122 by 2038 to protect water supplies.
The use of smart meters would enable water companies to charge different tariffs for households with a high usage, known as dynamic pricing. Dynamic pricing, being encouraged by Ofwat, is being trialled by water companies including Affinity.
The regulator expects water companies to set out their plans to reach 100 per cent metering and has warned they could face penalties if they continue to miss targets to cut consumption.
Other measures to cut individual demand include new labelling on lavatories, showers and taps to show which use the least water, expected to be introduced later this year.
The Government has also suggested it could ban the sale of the least efficient products, which could include power showers and dual flush loos. Water use could also be included on energy performance certificates required by homeowners and landlords when they sell a property or rent it out.”
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